The subject matter herein relates to portable communication devices. Recently, technologies have been developed that allow users of mobile phones and other types of portable communication devices listen to radio broadcasts, or even view television broadcasts, on their devices. Due to the diversity in frequency allocation and management policies across regions, radio networks, and countries, a user must typically tune her device to receive service as she moves across network boundaries. This is generally done either through a manual or automatic scanning functionality.
However, as the user often is not familiar with the station directories and allocations at the new region, the most common way of tuning the device is to search the entire radio spectrum (such as FM, or AM radio) with “brute force.” This introduces significant delay unless user already has prior knowledge of the exact station of her choice and the exact channel of the station. Even for digital stations which have the capability of including directory information in the form of meta-data in their broadcasts this remains a problem, because there is generally no incentive for a network to provide directory service for a competing network in the same region.
Directory information is, however, publicly available. A typical Internet search engine, such as the search engine provided by Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., can return links to community websites that list all the radio stations in various local regions. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also requires broadcasters to register their tower information in a publicly available database. Thus, while station directories do exist, they are typically not easily available in a situation where a user needs to tune her device to a particular station.
Satellite based broadcasting stations typically make available their own lists of stations on a dedicated channel via a satellite. However, this is because satellite companies are nationwide broadcasters, which also serve local content (such as local news for a particular region). The satellite broadcasting stations do not provide local directories for their terrestrial network competitors. Cable providers serve regional users (e.g., by broadcasting local television stations) but accessing the cable broadcasts requires a cable connection, which is not feasible for mobile users who typically rely on an air interface.